THE Garda Representative Association, representing the largest number of rank-and-file gardai, said last night it would not accept the terms of the Partnership 2000 agreement.
The GRA warned that unless the Government set up an independent commission on pay by next May it would consider not implementing any new work practices that might be brought forward.
At a meeting in Connolly Hall in Cork attended by the GRA, the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors and the Association of Garda Superintendents - the first time the three organisations appeared on a public platform together - Mr P.J. Stone, of the GRA, said rank-and-file Garda members were no longer prepared to accept the provisions of national pay deals into which they had no input.
Since 1981, he added, when the last comprehensive review of Garda pay was carried out, working gardai had not been allowed to have any say in the formulation of pay agreements, even though they faced increased dangers on the streets and increased workload as a result of new legislation and the continuing introduction of new procedures and practices.
"The members are frustrated and angry and they are gathering in Cork to give vent to their feelings.
"This meeting is significant in that it combines the two other organisations' representatives on the same platform.
Mr Stone said that while the Garda was precluded from industrial action, there were other possibilities, and these would be explored if the Government did not set up the sought-after commission to examine pay levels.
"If they don't acknowledge our case, I don't believe gardai will be willing to implement any new differences in work strategy.
"Our own surveys show that the pay slippage since 1991 is between 25 per cent and 30 per cent, but we are not asking the Government to rely on these figures.
"We are simply asking them to take our own reports and lay them before the independent commission to decide.
For too long levels of pay in the Garda had been ignored and the time had come for the Government to take notice, said Mr George Maybury, of the AGSI.
The work of the Garda was increasingly violent and dangerous, but, despite this, neither the Garda nor its representatives had been given a voice when it came to structuring national pay agreements up to and including the latest one.
Speaking for the AGS, its president, Mr Brendan Quinn, said that while each organisation was being guided by its own executive, the Garda force in general was precluded from industrial action, and that would continue.
However, last night's meeting, he added, had shown a new resolution on the part of all ranks to have their case heard on Garda pay.
The meeting adopted a resolution calling on the Government to establish an independent and objective commission on pay without delay.
Last night's meeting in Cork was the first of a number which will be held at various locations throughout the State as part of the Garda campaign.